A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Actor’s Active Listening

Abstract

We know that a sound becomes a meaning carrier only when it is actively listened to. As M. Scott Peck observes, listening is essential, for there is no real communication in the absence of real listening. During rehearsals, the actor/actress immerses him/herself in a state of listening in order not only to develop his/her concentration, observing ego, distributed attention, capacity of identifying with/distancing from a character, but also to establish relationships with his/her self, with the other actors and with the spectators. To briefly analyze the actor’s process of active listening, the present paper makes reference to methods and techniques used in different fields of research such as psychoanalysis, psychology, psychodrama, theatre, paratheatre, storytelling, emphasizing the idea that emotional identification, alienation, self-revelation, reaching physical tiredness play a major role in self-growth. Undeniably, the actor’s explorations and experiments aim at improving his capacity of creating sequences of physical and vocal actions in order to tell every spectator a different story to which he/she reacts according to his/her background, personality and personal experiences. Taking into consideration the phenomenon of neural coupling, we advance the idea that both theatre performance and storytelling might be of significant interest in cognitive science.